Compaction container with material deflector



M- CLAR Jan. 31, 1967 COMPACTION CONTAINERS WITH MATERIAL DEFLECTORFiled 11%. 14, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MILTON CLAR BY S/zc airo006186 0120 ATTORNEY 3 COMPACTION CONTAINERS WITH MATERIAL DEFLECTOR-14, l965 M. CLAR Jan. 31, 1967 Filed Dec SSheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MILTONCLAR BY \s/zzyaz'ro 90d 5/10 0270 ATTORNEYS M. CLAR Jan. 31, 1967COMPACTION CONTAINERS WITH MATERIAL DEFLECTOR Filed Dec.

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 4

INVENTOR MILTON CLAR FIG. 5

BY Shapiro and 510 000 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,301,414COMPACTION CONTAINER WITH MATERIAL DEFLECTOR Milton Clar, Bethesda, Md.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to Disposal Systems Development, Inc.,Washington, DC, a corporation of the District of Columbia Filed Dec. 14,1965, Ser. No. 513,729 Claims. (Cl. 21441) This invent-ion relates tocompaction containers and more particularly to detachable containers foruse with stationary compaction apparatus.

In applicants co-pending application, Serial No. 350,- 325, filed March9, 1964, now Patent No. 3,231,107 issued January 25, 1966, apparatus isdisclosed in which a container supported upon wheels is detachablyconnected to a stationary packer. The container is constructed andarranged so that material, such as refuse, may be moved into thecontainer through an opening in an end wall thereof by a compactionblade forming a part of the packer and so that when filled withcompacted material, the container may be separated from the packer,engaged with the lifting mechanism of a self-loading vehicle, andemptied through its top, which is temporarily opened for this purpose.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide an improvedcontainer especially adapted for use in the foregoing environment.

In order to realize fully the advantages of a stationary packer anddetachable container combination, it is essential that the container besubstantially completely filled before it is emptied and that thematerial be compacted with substantially uniform compaction density andwithout voids. Because of practical restrictions upon the dimensions ofthe compaction blade and hence the size of the outlet of the compactionchamber, the inlet opening for admitting material to the containerthrough an end wall thereof is substantially shorter than the end wall.Accordingly, the compacted material tendsto accumulate near the bottomof the container, leaving voids in the compacted material in the upperportion of the container, especially in the material adjacent to thesaid end wall, and resulting in wide variation of the density ofcompacted material and inefficient use of the container volume.

Somewhat similar problems have existed in thebodies of some compactionvehicles, and attempts have been made to solve such problems by, forexample, providing an incline extending upwardly from the bottom wall ofthe body storage chamber to the end wall opposite the inlet opening orby providing an incline leading upwardly from the inlet opening to thebottom of the body storage chamber, which is elevated above the bottomof the incline. Such schemes have achieved some success in their statedenvironments but do not provide the desired solution to theaforementioned problems in detachable compaction containers of the typedescribed above.

In a detachable compaction container it is essential that substantiallythe entire volume of the container be utilized to the maximum extent,because of practical limitations upon the size of the container whichcan be conveniently located in and moved into and out of a building inwhich the stationary packer may be located and which can be handled bythe type of self-loading vehicle with which the container is to be used.

Because several containers are usually provided for each installation,to minimize the number of service trips required of the collectionvehicle, it is important that the cost of the containers be keptreasonable notwithstanding the fact that the strength of the containersmust be sufiicient to accommodate the compaction loads. interiorcon-figuration of the containers must facilitate the "ice completeemptying of the container contents when the top wall of the container isopened and the container is inverted into the body of the collectionvehicle.

The cost of providing a smoothly curved inclined baflle extending (fromthe bottom wall of the container to the end wall opposite the inletopening, as described in the aforementioned co pending application, ishigher than may be j-ustified. Moreover such a construction does notprovide desired pre-compaction.

An incline leading from the inlet opening of the container to anelevated bottom produces undesirable abrupt back pressures on thecompaction blade, reduces the effective volume of the container, andstill leaves compaction voids if prior teachings are followed.

In accordance with the improvement of the present invention, awedge-shaped material deflector is provided interiorly of the compactioncontainer. Because of the construction and features to be set forthhereinafter, the deflector adds little to the cost and weight of thecontainer, does not significantly reduce the useful volume of thecontainer, provides pre-compaction while cushioning the compactionblade, and provides the desired efficient utilization of the containervolume.

The foregoing and other objects, advantages, and features of theinvention, and the manner in which the same are accomplished will becomemore fully apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate a preferred and exemplary embodiment, andwherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating the association of acontainer of the invention with a stationary packer (shown in phantomlines);

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the container;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation view of the container partially broken awayto show the internal construction, especially the deflector;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevation view showing the inlet opening of thecontainer; and

FIGURE 5 is an end elevation view showing the end of the containeropposite the inlet opening.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGURE 1 thereof, acontainer 10 of the invention is of generally rectangular configurationand has a pair of spaced end walls 12 and 14, a pair of spaced sideWalls 16 and 18, a bottom wall 20, and a top wall 22. Side wall 16 maybe vertical, as is end wall 14, but side wall 18 diverges upwardly withrespect to side wall 16, and side wall 12 diverges upwardly with respectto side wall 14, so that the horizontal cross-section of the containerincreases in area from the bottom to the top of the container. Thisfacilitates emptying of the container when it is inverted.

The top wall is pivotally supported by hinges 24 at one side extremitythereof and is provided with a plurality of pivoting latches 26 whichengage keepers 28 attached to the appropriate side and end walls. Thisarrangement of the top wall or cover is well known in the art andpermits the top wall to be held closed and yet to be opened when desiredfor emptying the container through its top. The top Wall is reinforcedby longitudinal beads or braces 30, and similar braces are used toreinforce other walls as shown. Other cover configurations, such asthose having separately pivoting sections, may also be used.

The container is supported upon four wheels, a pair of wheels 32adjacent to end wall 14 having fixed orientation and a pair of wheels 34adjacent to end wall 12 being constructed to swivel. Other means forpermitting transla- Also, the

the lifting mechanism of the vehicle. Different types of a such elementsare employed depending upon the type and manufacturer of the vehicle. Inthe illustrative form the container is to be engaged with a frontloader, such as that manufactured by Hercules Gali-on of Galion, Ohio,having well known lifting arms or forks. These forks enter between pairsof bar elements 36 which are mounted upon the side walls and projectbeyond the adjacent end walls. The forks of the front loader areapproximately horizontal and spaced apart a distance slightly greaterthan the distance between the end walls at the level of the elements 36,so that the forks may be inserted between elements 36 at one side walland extended along the end walls and between the elements 36 at theother side wall to embrace the container in a well known manner. Becauseof the slope of end wall 12 a vertical plate 38 is fixed betweenelements 36 at end wall 12 to provide the proper guidance of the liftingforks.

A U-shaped horizontal handle 40 projects from end wall 12 to facilitatepulling and pushing of the container.

In FIGURE 1 the container is shown associated with a stationary packer42, which may be the type described in the aforesaid co-pendingapplication. In general, stationary packers utilized in the refusecollection industry have a vertical compaction blade which moveshorizontally along a path perpendicular to its surface and through acompaction chamber into which refuse or other material is admitted. Thetop of the compaction chamber may have an opening for receiving thematerial, the opening being closed when the blade is extended to compactthe material. The compaction chamber has an opening at one end thereofthrough which the material is forced into an associated inlet opening ofthe compaction container.

The inlet opening of the compaction container of the invention is shownin FIGURE 4 at 44. The opening is rectangular, extending upwardly fromthe bottom wall of the container and having less height and slightlyless width than the side wall 14 of the container, which the openingpenetrates. The opening may have a surrounding lip or collar 46 (seeFIGURE 3) constituted by strips extending inwardly from the side and topedges of the opening and by the bottom wall of the container.

In order to maintain the container in position with the inlet opening ofthe container aligned with the outlet opening of the packer, suitableconnector elements, such as the hooks 48 projecting from reinforcedsections of end wall 14, are provided. These hooks engage cooperatingelements, such as chains or load binders, of the stationary packer as iswell known in the :art. The stationary packer may have a collarprojecting outwardly around its outlet opening and which is insertedinto the inlet opening 44 of the container when the container and thepacker are connected. When the container is disconnected from thepacker, a suitable closure is placed across the opening 44 in a wellknown manner to prevent spillage of the compacted material.

It is thus apparent that in the use of a compaction container of thetype described so far, material is moved through the opening 44 by theblade of the packer, which preferably enters the container to the extentof a few inches. With successive strokes of the compaction blade, thecontainer gradually fills up. In the absence of any internalmodification of the container, the compacted material will tend tocollect more or less along an extension of the path of the blade, andalthough eventually the level of material in the container will riseabove the blade, the density of the material will be much greater towardthe bottom of the container, and the material adjacent to the end wall14 above opening 44 may actually be so loosely packed as to leave voids.Such utilization of the container is inefficient at best.

In accordance with the invention a wedge-shaped deflector 50 is providedto overcome this problem. As shown in FIGURE 3, the deflector has anapex 52 and a pair of inclines or inclined walls 54 and 56 extendingdownwardly from the apex to the bottom Wall of the container. The walls54 and 56 extend entirely across the container from one side wall to theother and are connected thereto as well as to the bottom wall.

The inclination of wall 56 is chosen to provide suflicient supporting orgussetting action for the deflector to accommodate the pressure exertedupon the deflector during compaction, and yet this wall does not extendgreatly in the direction of end wall 12 of the container. The usefulvolume of the container is thus not significantly reduced by wall 56,but the wedge is strong enough without requiring internal bracing andmay be completely hollow to minimize cost and weight.

Incline 54 faces opening 44. The lower extremity of this incline isspaced inwardly from the opening 44, and the incline extends upwardlyaway from opening 44 to the apex line 52. The angle of inclination ofwall 54 must be great enough to provide desired deflection of thecompacted material upwardly (and toward end wall 14 as the containerbecomes filled) and yet the deflector must not exert undue back pressureupon the compaction blade. For these reasons a substantial angle ofinclination is employed but the lower extremity of wall 54 is spacedinwardly a substantial distance from the inlet opening 44. Nevertheless,if the wedge were too far from opening 44, it would not be effective toprevent voids near end wall 14, and if the apex 52 were too highrelative to the height of the inlet opening, the back pressure upon thecompaction blade would be undesirably high and voids would tend to occurbetween the wedge and end wall 12.

Applicant has discovered an optimum relationship between the deflector50 and the container walls which serves all of the purposes of theinvention admirably. It has been found that the distance between theapex 52 and the end wall 14 should be about one-third the total distancebetween the end walls. The height of the apex 52 above the bottom wallshould be about 40% of the height of the opening and about 20% of thetotal internal height of the container. The distance of the lowerextremity of wall 54 from end wall 14 should be about three-fifths ofthe distance of apex 52 from end wall 14. The included angle of thewedge between wall 54 and bottom wall 20 should be about forty-twodegrees, and the included angle between wall 56 and the bottom wallshould be about seventy-five degrees. With this construction thecontainer fills substantially completely and with substantially uniformcompaction density. Precompaction is obtained between the deflector andopening 44, yet the material in this region gives cushioning to reduceabrupt back pressures on the compaction blade.

In a container constructed for optimum operation in accordance with theinvention, the length of the container between the top edges of sidewalls 12 and 14 was seventy-two inches, and between the bottom edges wassixtynine and three-quarters inches. The height of the side walls andthe end walls was thirty-nine and three-eighths inches. The width of thecontainer between the bottom edges of the side walls was thirty-twoinches and between the top edges of the side walls was thirty-five and aquarter inches. The height of opening 44 was twenty and three-quartersinches and the width was twenty-five and one-half inches. Collar 46extended two inches into the containers. The apex 52 of the deflectorwas positioned twenty-four inches from end wall 14. Incline wall 54 waseleven and three-quarters inches long from apex to lower extremity,which was fifteen and one-quarter inches from end wall 14. Incline wall56 was eight and onequarter inches long from apex to lower extremity,which was eleven inches from the lower extremity of wall 54. The heightof apex 52 above the bottom wall was eight inches. The end, bottom, andside walls were formed of fourteen gauge steel, the cover of seven gaugesteel, and the portions of end wall 14 on each side of the openn 44 (to.which the hooks 48 were attached) were rei'nforced by panels of sevengauge steel. The deflector walls were formed of twelve gauge steel.

While a preferred embodiment ,of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changescan be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles andspirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appendedclaims. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiment is to be consideredillustrative, rather than restrictive of the invention, and thosemodifications which come within the meaning and range of equivalents ofthe claims are to be included therein.

The invention claimed is:

1. A compaction container having a pair of spaced side walls, a pair ofspaced end walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, one of said end wallshaving an opening adjacent to said bottom wall through which material tobe compacted may be moved and having a substantial stationary portionextending upwardly above said opening, and a deflector for said materialhaving an incline extending upwardly from said bottom wall away fromsaid opening, said incline having its lower extremity spaced inwardlyfrom said opening and having its upper extremity spaced from vthe otherend wall and from said top wall at a level well above the lowerextremity of said opening, said deflector being wedge-shaped and havingan apex with said incline and another wall extending downwardlytherefrom, the apex of said deflector being spaced from said one endwall a distance about one-third of the total distance between said endwalls, and the height of said apex above said bottom wall being about40% of the height of said opening above said bottom wall, wherebymaterial moved through said opening is deflected upwardly by saiddeflector and whereby substantially the entire volume of said container,including the portion adjacent to said one end wall, may be filled withcompacted material.

2. A compaction container having a pair of spaced side walls, a pair ofspaced end walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, one of said end wallshaving an opening adjacent to said bottom wall through which material tobe compacted may be moved and having a substantial stationary portionextending upwardly above said opening, and a deflector for said materialhaving an incline extending upwardly from said bottom wall away fromsaid opening, said incline having its lower extremity spaced inwardlyfrom said opening and having its upper extremity spaced from the otherend wall and from said top wall at a level well above the lowerextremity of said opening, said deflector being wedge-shaped and havingan apex with said incline and another wall extending downwardlytherefrom, said deflector extending from one side wall to the other, andthe ratio of the distances from said bottom wall to said apex along saidincline and along said other deflector wall being about 11 to 8, wherebymaterial moved through said opening is deflected upwardly by saiddeflector and whereby substantially the entire volume of said container,including the portion adjacent to said one end wall, may be filled withcompacted material.

3. A compaction container having a pair of spaced side walls, a pair ofspaced end walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, one of said end wallshaving an opening adjacent to said bottom wall through which material tobe compacted may be moved and having a substantial stationary portionextending upwardly above said opening, and a deflector for said materialhaving an incline extending upwardly from said bottom wall away fromsaid opening, said incline having its lower extremity spaced inwardlyfrom said opening and having its upper extremity spaced from the otherend wall and from said top wall at a level well above the lowerextremity of said opening, said deflector being wedge-shaped and havingan apex with said incline and another wall extending downwardlytherefrom, the included angle of the incline with respect to said bottomwall being about 42, the included angle of the other wall of thedeflector with respect to the bottom wall being substantially greater,the distance between said apex and said one end wall being aboutone-third the distance between said end walls, and the distance betweenthe lower extremity of the incline and said one end wall being aboutthree-fifths the distance between said apex and said one end wall,whereby material moved through said opening is deflected upwardly bysaid deflector and whereby substantially the entire volume of saidcontainer, including the portion adjacent tosaid one end wall, may befilled with compacted material.

4. A compaction container having a pair of spaced side walls, a pair ofspaced end walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, one of said end wallshaving an opening ad jacent to said bottom wall through which materialto be compacted may be moved and having a substantial stationary portionextending upwardly above said opening, and a deflector for said materialhaving an incline extending upwardly from said bottom wall away fromsaid opening, said incline having its lower extremity spaced inwardlyfrom said opening and having its upper extremity spaced from the otherend wall and from said top wall at a level well above the lowerextremity of said opening, said deflector being wedge-shaped and havingan apex with said incline and another wall extending downwardlytherefrom, whereby material moved through said opening is deflectedupwardly by said deflector and whereby substantially the entire volumeof said container, including the portion adjacent to said one end wallmay be filled with compacted material, said container being supportedupon wheels, said top wall having means permitting it to be opened andto be maintained closed, said container having external elements adaptedto engage the lifting elements of a self-loading vehicle to permit thecontainer to be lifted and inverted for emptying the same, at least saidend walls or said side walls diverging upwardly to facilitate emptyingof the container, and said container having elements for detachablyconnecting the container to a compaction apparatus with said opening insaid one end wall adjacent to said apparatus.

5. The container of claim 4, said opening being rectangular and having asurrounding collar.

6. A compaction container having a pair of spaced side walls, a pair ofspaced end walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, one of said end wallshaving an opening adjacent to said bottom wall through which material tobe compacted may be moved by a compaction blade and having a substantialstationary portion extending upwardly above said opening, and means fordeflecting upwardly material moved through said opening to fill withcompacted material substantially the entire volume of said container,including the portion adjacent to said one end wall, and for providingpre-compaction of said material and blade cushioning, said meanscomprising a deflector having an incline extending upwardly from saidbottom wall and away from said opening, said incline having its lowerextremity spaced inwardly a substantial distance from said opening andhaving its upper extremity at a level substantially above the lowerextremity of said opening, substantially below the upper extremity ofsaid opening, and spaced from said top wall, said bottom wall, and saidother end wall.

7. The container of claim 6, the distance between the lower extremity ofsaid incline and said opening being several fifths of the distancebetween the upper extremity of said incline and said opening.

8. The container of claim 7, the upper extremity of said incline beingabove the lower extremity of said open ing and below the upper extremityof said opening by distances of several fifths of the height of saidopening.

9. The container of claim 8, the height of the upper extremity of saidincline above said bottom wall being about one-fifth of the distancebetween said top wall and said bottom wall.

10. The container of claim 9, said deflector being a wedge extendingbetween said side Walls and having a 7 8 Wall extending downwardly fromthe upper extremity of 2,961,105 11/1960 "Shubin' 2,1483.3 said inclineto said bottom Wall, the ratio of the distances 3 059 7 9 10 19 2 B l214 41 from the lower extremity of said incline to the upper extremityof said incline and from the upper extremity of FOREIGN PATENTS saidincline to the lower extremity of said wedge wall 5 being about 11 to963,566 7/1964 Great Britain.

Referenfies Cited y the Examine! GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Examiner.

2,487,411 11/1949 Balbi 21483.3

1. A COMPACTION CONTAINER HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED SIDE WALLS, A PAIR OFSPACED END WALLS, A BOTTOM WALL, AND A TOP WALL, ONE OF SAID END WALLSHAVING AN OPENING ADJACENT TO SAID BOTTOM WALL THROUGH WHICH MATERIAL TOBE COMPACTED MAY BE MOVED AND HAVING A SUBSTANTIAL STATIONARY PORTIONEXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOCE SAID OPENING, AND A DEFLECTOR FOR SAID MATERIALHAVING AN INCLINE EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BOTTOM WALL AWAY FROMSAID OPENING, SAID INCLINE HAVING ITS LOWER EXTREMITY SPACED INWARDLY,FROM SAID OPENING AND HAVING ITS UPPER EXTREMITY SPACED FROM OTHER ENDWALL AND FROM SAID TOP WALL AT A LEVEL WELL ABOVE THE LOWER EXTREMITY OFSAID OPENING, SAID DEFLECTOR BEING WEDGE-SHAPED AND HAVING AN APEX WITHSAID INCLINE AND ANOTHER WALL EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, THE APEXOF SAID DEFLECTOR BEING SPACED FROM SAID ONE END WALL A DISTANCE ABOUTONE-THIRD OF OF THE TOTAL DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID END WALLS, AND THEHEIGHT OF SAID APEX ABOVE SAID BOTTOM WALL BEING ABOUT 40% OF THE HEIGHTOF SAID OPENING ABOVE SAID BOTTOM WALL, WHEREBY MATERIAL MOVED THROUGHSAID OPENING IS DEFLECTED UPWARDLY BY SAID DEFLECTOR AND WHEREBYSUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE VOLUME OF SAID CONTAINER, INCLUDING THE PORTIONADJACENT TO SAID ONE END WALL, MAY BE FILLED WITH COMPACTED MATERIAL.